And What We Leave Behind
by ohwhynot
Summary: Not old enough to fight, yet not young enough to stay ignorant. Years before they enter Beacon, the children begin to discover their hidden strengths and slowly realize as they grow that what they want it may put them at odds with those who raised them.
1. Ruby, Yang, and Blake

"Yang! Let's fight!"

Hearing the call, the blonde turned around to see the bouncing ball of energy she called her little sister charging at her with a wooden sword. Laughing, the elder sister took up the boxing stance she learned from her father, easily dodged the giggling 10 year-old's clumsy swings. Ducking between the trees surrounding their uncle Qrow's home, no matter how hard Ruby tried she couldn't land a blow. The effort she put into defeating her elder sister was adorable in Yang's eyes. She noticed Ruby had a noticeable glint in her eye as she suddenly turned and ran, diving into a thicket, vanishing behind a nearby oak tree.  
 _  
'An ambush huh? Well I'm ready for anything you have planned.'_

The huntress-in-training kept her guard up as she slowly circled the area, wondering where the ambush would come from. She got her answer in the form of a high-pitched yell from directly above.

"yaaaaaa!"

Taken by surprise, she suddenly felt instinct take over. Yang immediately fell into her stance, slipping her head to the left just as the strike wooshed past her head. Dodging what would have been a direct blow to her head, she instinctively countered with a right straight to Ruby's face. The punch connected with a loud crack, sending the younger girl sprawling into the grassy area behind her. Realizing what she did, the blonde rushed to check on her sister.

"Ruby! Are you ok?"

Before she could even reach the downed girl, Ruby righted herself, brushing off the dirt from her little red dress. Oddly enough, she had no visible damage, only the pout on her face indicating any sign of her loss.

"Aww! I almost had you that time!"

Yang released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and began to laugh. "Yeah, almost got me there. That was a pretty good idea."

"You serious! I was actually trying to lead you there from the beginning since you I know you're faster and dad's been training you with your gauntlets and I'm still here with just my-"

"How about we go inside and I'll go get you some cookies for almost getting me for the first time?"

"Cookies! Chocolate chip?"

Perfect distraction. Let her go and she'd go on for a while.

"Of course. Now let's get inside."

"Race you there!", the little girl called as she cheerfully took off toward the house, wooden sword still in hand.

Her elder sister followed behind, already knowing she won the race for snacks. She'd already moved the box of cookies just slightly higher than the little runt could reach anyway. Even if Ruby got there first, she wouldn't be able could reach them. She had considered spiking them with hot sauce like she had last time they were at Qrow's but had the bad luck of them leaving before Ruby could eat them. That phone call from an her angry uncle was not one she'd want to experience again.

The first one through the door was Ruby, giggling as she swiftly avoiding furniture and miscellaneous obstacles in her mad dash toward the kitchen. She leapt over the leather couch in the living room, barely clearing the coffee table on the other side. With that move she knew victory was hers as she crossed the doorway into the kitchen.

"Having fun I see, huh Ruby?"

 _'Oops.'_

In their excitement they had forgotten their uncle Qrow's daily schedule. Right now happened to be his time to be sitting at the kitchen table listening to the local news on his scroll. Well, he had been, until he heard the sound of two girls running through his house. From his spot at the kitchen table he took a sip from his coffee mug, raising his eyebrow at the little girl frozen in the doorway. The faint sound of Zaffre Rain, the local weatherman, emanated from the scroll to fill in the silence.

 _'here's how the rest of the day shapes up, nice temperatures in the high 60s...'_

"Hey Ruby why'd you stop you can't win if you don't-"

And there was the second one.

"Ah crap."

The Hunter tried not to smile at the girls frozen like deer in headlights, knowing they'd been caught. Sure he could forgive them since he knew they hadn't broken anything, but technically rules were rules. He'd decided against any punishment and just gave them a light scolding.

"Now what did I say about running in the house?"

"Not unless it's an emergency" the girls echoed.

 _'and now for local news. Faunus rights group the White Fang's protest is going as planned in front of local courthouse...'_

"Was there an emergency worth running for?" the older man questioned.

"Cookies are an emergency!"

"Cookies?"

"Yes we just finished play fighting and need food and cookies are the best kind of food!" Yang followed her sister along.

"Play fighting." He thought for a moment. "Alright. You can each have two cookies if you tell me how you both did."

"yay! Thanks uncle Qrow!" Ruby chirped as she made a beeline to the box of cookies.

 _'...due to their recent change in tactics to more violent measures the police department has advised the general public to stay home...'_

Qrow turned off the scroll and pushed it farther away from him, his attention now on the girls in front of him as they regaled him with tales of their morning games. The next minute or so for him involved watching little Ruby jump trying to reach the box as Yang laughed at her only to have Ruby climb on her as she reached for the box of cookies. Sometimes he wondered if Summer had anything to do with the little girl's love of cookies. It probably did.

Once they had each acquired their two cookies, Ruby inhaled hers immediately while Yang only ate one before eventually giving the other one to Ruby. They sat down at the table and Ruby animatedly described the epic battle between the forces of good and evil which took place just outside. Of course, she was the hero and Yang was her rival. Most of the story went as expected with Ruby unable to come close to her older, trained sister, at least, until the end.

"and I swung down with her mighty sword of justice down on the evil empress' head!" she excitedly swung down her imaginary weapon, "and I almost had her too but she moved out of the way in the last second and sent me flying but good shall come back and next time I will triumph!" She pointed at her sister.

"Haha. So I'm evil now?"

"Of course! You're the evil Queen Yang: Eater of cookies and hider of Fluffy!"

She was referring to her little stuffed cat Ruby had received as a present for her fourth birthday from her mother. Yang always made a point of hiding her wherever she could, whenever she could. It was an amusing game and back when she was smaller, watching Ruby frantically calling and searching for her little stuffed black cat was the cutest thing in her mind.

"I don't hide her! She just loves to go on walks!"

Qrow stood from his seat, his coffee mug now empty. While the girls had their play argument he washed his mug before placing it to drying rack.

"Ok girls, that was a great story but how about he figure out what we're going to do today before your father comes to pick you up in the afternoon?"

At the suggestion both girls' heads swung in his direction, their plans echoing a simultaneous response.

"Shopping!"

"No."

Qrow's tone seemed to indicate it was final.

"Why not? Is it the White Fang demonstration in town?" Yang was always perceptive.

"That's right. They've been getting more violent as of late and I'd rather you girls not go where something may happen. Besides, the shops you usually go to are near where they're demonstrating. I doubt they'll be open."

Ruby pouted. It's not every day she got to go to the weapon shop. She even planned to find herself a weapon and finally graduate from that training sword. Yang was already working on her gauntlets and Ruby wasn't going to be left behind.

"Uncle Qrow. Know everyone's hiding from the White Fang but are the Faunus that scary?"

The older man rubbed his short beard pondering how to answer such a complicated and delicate question in a manner that a 10-year old would understand.

* * *

 _'Gotta run away. Gotta run away'_

Those words pounded in a young Blake Belladona's head as she rushed through the small forest area of Patch. She wasn't sure what happened or why but she realized something had gone wrong. From one moment to the next the Faunus Rights protest had gone from peaceful to full-scale riot. Or at least, it seemed more coordinated to her than a simple riot. It didn't' matter now. The police had decided to crack down hard on the protesters and were rounding up everyone they could, whether they had fought back or not.

Initially she had stood there frozen in shock at the explosion. The entrance to Patch Courthouse was instantly engulfed in flames. From then on it was chaos. The smell of blood and the vision of burning buildings had thrown her into shock. She hadn't even heard the calls of her comrades telling her to run before abandoning her into the city streets. A large officer's hand clamping down on her shoulder brought her back to her senses. _'I have to run away'_

Her form under the officer's arm faded as she left a shadow clone behind her as she bolted off in the other direction. The officer gave chase but his armored clothing weighed him down too much to keep up with the naturally agile cat Faunus.

"Hey! Get back here!"

His order faded behind her as the 12 year-old dashed off through whatever street and alley she could find, not even giving a second thought to where she was going to meet up with the others in the White Fang who got away. Blake had eventually found her way to the small forest area of Patch It only covered a small portion of the island and the population never grew large enough to need to cut it down. She figured if she could find a good place to hide in there until the heat died down she'd be alright.

The young fugitive pushed forward until she entered a clearing, the sight of a house in the middle of the clearing stopping her in her tracks. The two story house seemed unusual to her, especially with her current mood. Scanning the open area for any dangers she carefully snuck up to the house, pressing herself in the corner between the brick wall and a wooden storage container.  
 _  
'Is there anyone living here I wonder?'_

She carefully approached a nearby window, wondering what she would see inside. Was it a hideout? Was it abandoned? Her questions were answered when she began to hear voices from inside the house. She carefully cracked open the window to get a better idea of the people in there.

"-Are Faunus that scary?" ' _A young girl.'_

"Hmm.." ' _With an older man. Is it her father?'_

The cat Faunus' ears began to twitch. She'd heard these kind of conversations directed at them before and it hurt. This one was probably no different. Despite the anger brewing in her she kept listening. It wasn't every day she got to listen to a private conversation about them, as offensive as she expected it to be.

"No. They're not. In fact, most of the Faunus are good people. It's the White Fang. They're...misguided. They didn't used to be violent like this. In fact, the original group used to be peaceful. I guess their new leadership doesn't think like they did. In the case of the individual Faunus, it's just like everyone else. It's up to you to make friends with them and see if you can trust them. Like our current guest."

Blake was startled from her spot under the window. She was sure her training had kept her from being noticed.

"KITTY!"

Ah. Her ears.

The window burst open and she was immediately set upon by a tiny girl in a red dress who seemed intent on not letting go. Looking out from the window at the scene was a young blonde around her age and an older man.

"LET. ME. GO!"

"Ruby's not going to let you go you know." the elder sister said, "not until she's finished petting you."

"I'm not a pet!"

"Yeah but you remind her of her favorite stuffed animal."

"I'm not one of those either."

Blake eventually surrendered under the grip of her tiny captor wondering exactly what she got herself into. The blonde who introduced herself as Yang jumped out the window and helped Blake up, the girl's giggling little sister still latched on to her waist.

"Ok girls." Qrow chuckled to himself, "How about all of you come inside to play. I hope you don't mind miss..."

"Blake." She decided to keep it simple. These people didn't look threatening at least. It would also be a good place to wait out the chaos before trying to make it back.

"-Miss Blake. You're the first Faunus they've gotten to talk to. If you have the time of course."

She silently nodded, still weary of the older man's questioning gaze.

Ruby cheered as she dragged the older girl inside, bombarding her with questions she didn't have to answer but would probably have to answer later on.

Once they were inside, Qrow excused himself citing some work he had to get done in his study upstairs. The girls settled themselves in the living room while Yang brought the rest of the cookies and placed them on a plate on the coffee table. By that time Ruby had already noticed Blake's weapon and had the girl explain everything she could about it.

"So your weapon has 3 different forms? Oh that is so cool!"

"Well essentially, but the third form is more of a sheath." The faunus girl explained, sheathing and unsheathing her Gambol Shrowd as a demonstration.

"Still! I can tell that the sheath also works as a cleaver for stronger enemies that your katana form couldn't handle!"

Blake blinked in amazement at the young girl's analysis. It may have been one of the easier things to notice, but it would still be something only a 10 year-old wouldn't normally say when shown a weapon like hers.

"You're right, though I don't get a chance to use it that way often."

"Yang has a weapon too but it doesn't have blades like yours does."

That sparked Blake's curiosity.

"You have a weapon too Yang?"

The blonde puffed out her chest in a show of bravado.

"Of course! It's a great weapon too! And once it's complete I'm going to go on a lot of adventures as a huntress!"

Blake's eyes narrowed at the mention of the word "huntress".

"So you're going to be a huntress?

"Of course. Ruby too once she's old enough and chooses her weapon."

"Is your...is your father a hunter too?" she said, gesturing up the stairs where Qrow disappeared to.

"He's a hunter but not our dad, though he's a hunter too." Ruby chimed in, "He's our uncle. Our dad's picking us up later today."

"I see..."

Yang had noticed how uncomfortable the conversation was getting and decided to jump on something new to lighten the mood.

"Enough about that I think. Let's play a board game!"

"Let's play Remnant!" Ruby yelled out her favorite board game. " I want to be Atlas!"

"Sure. I'll be Mistral. Blake can be Vacuo."

Their house guest relented and joined in on their game. From then on the tenseness faded amid the clicking of the plastic figures on the cardboard map of Remnant. The girls seemed to enjoy their game, even if Yang seemed to be dominating the first few games. Ruby's mirthful laughter came to a head once Blake got a hang of the rules and turned Yang's war plans on their head.

"You did it!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fist into the air. "Yang's finally been defeated and now comes the new age of Blake!"

Even the normally standoffish Faunus couldn't help but smile at the girl's natural cheerfulness. She was smart for her age, especially when she was seemingly untrained but still had an innocence to her that could probably make even the most hardened criminal smile. Even Yang's older sister act toward both of them had a sense of warmth she normally didn't see in the harsh, rigid power structure of the White Fang. If she hadn't been so wary of them she feared she would almost feel it natural to be around them. Maybe if they weren't a family of Hunters, she might have even considered meeting up them in the future if she ever got the chance.

"So Blake, what's your family like?", Yang asked as she took a cookie from the plate.

"My dad travels a lot." She looked away, "On business."

"And your mom?" Ruby added.

Blake paused, wondering what she could say.

"She...She died."

"oh."

Unsure if she should breach the topic farther,Yang let the silence linger.

"It's ok!" Ruby hugged her from behind,"Our mom's gone too."

Ruby was immune to such considerations it seems. Yang thought she may as well follow along.

"Yeah, she was a Huntress too. We're ok talking about it though." Yang took a deep breath. " There isn't much to say though. One day she went off on a mission and just never came home. They won't even tell us what mission she went on. I'm guessing it was something important."

"She was the strongest Huntress ever! She was strong and fast and she took down an Ursa that was thiiiiis big!" She spread out her arms wide to demonstrate.

"Your father's strong too right?"

"Of course. They were on the same team and that's how they met."

A sudden knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Hey dad must be here. You can meet him."

The two sisters stood up from their spots as their presumed father on the other side knocked again on their wooden front door. Yang cheerfully opened the door to greet their guest only to find someone they didn't recognize staring down at them. He was tall with short red hair that matched his shirt. Yang would have said he was handsome if it weren't for the glare he seemed to have leveled on them.  
 _  
'Those horns on his head match that look of his'._

"Where's Blake?" His voice was stern. "Bring her out now."

"Just who do you think you are?!"

"I'm here." Blake stepped out from around the corner. Her countenance was serious, as if trying to match the stranger.

"We're leaving."

"Aww. You're leaving now Blake?" Ruby seemed disappointed.

"Sorry but I really have to go now."

"-Oh do we have guests?"

The sudden voice drew their attention to the top of the stairs where Qrow seemed to be looking down at the tense scene with amusement.

"I'm just here to pick up someone who belongs with us."

The older Hunter leisurely approached the group, never once taking his eyes away from their new guest.

"and your name would be?"

"none of your concern."

Qrow however was unfazed.

"Of course." He turned toward the children, "Sorry girls but it looks like Blake's playdate with you girls is over."

"Aww do we have to?" Ruby pouted.

Yang placed an arm around her younger sister's shoulders, "Don't worry Ruby, Blake can come visit us again, right Blake?"

Blake silently nooded before standing next to the red-haired Faunus.

"Thank you all. I had...fun."

"Hn. Let's go already."

With that, the two Faunus turned and left, Ruby yelling her goodbyes from her spot behind the doorway.

"You not allowed to come back here ever again."

"What? Why?"

"Don't tell me you didn't realize it?"

"That he's a Hunter?"

Adam stopped walking completely and looked Blake straight in the eye. Blake felt like she said something stupid.

"Starting tomorrow we're going to ramp up your training. If you couldn't feel how strong that Hunter was then you're obviously still weak. Which reminds me, you ran away today didn't you?"

"I'm sorry..." She felt like a foolish child.

"You _will_ do better next time. In the end we still accomplished our objectives."

Right, their objectives: steal a certain relic and kill a certain judge. He had a reputation for zealously oversentencing Faunus for even minor crimes. Good riddance.

"You have to realize what we're doing isn't just for us but for all Faunus. You're going to eventually join us. It's the reason your father left you under my care."

Blake just nodded, not feeling the need to question him on it. Looking back she began to wonder about their methods. The White Fang, everything they did was for a good reason, at least that was before today. That explosion was large and by nature indiscriminate. The ones who made the bomb knew it. Her father knew it. Adam knew it. She wondered how many innocent people were caught up in that explosion and whether or not they cared.

* * *

 _ **Inside Qrow's study**_

Qrow looked out the window as he watched the last of the White Fang retreat. His cell phone already mid-dial.

"So Qrow, how's it going?"

"Taiyang, you can call the rest of the team off. They've already retreated."

"You sure about that? The White Fang can be tenacious if they want."

"I'm sure. They were just here to pick up the girl."

There was silence on the other end, deep in thought.

"You think she was someone important?"

"It's very likely. They don't just surround a simple house for just anyone. I think the bull Faunus may have been somewhat important as well, even if he was young."

"Well, in the end we did get some information about who's important, as lofty as two kids are."

Qrow chuckled into his phone.

"I think the older one was about twenty."

"Hey at my age they're all kids to me."

Qrow opened a bottle of scotch on his work desk, pouring it into a glass.

"Speaking of kids. I'm taking Ruby under my wing."

Even from the other side of the phone, he could hear Taiyang sigh heavily.

"That probably took a lot to get out didn't it? No matter. You know she's as much your daughter as she is mine."

Qrow downed half of the glass in one shot in favor of responding.

"You think she can handle it?She is 10 years-old." Taiyang continued.

"Of course she can. She has rare ability. More so than even Yang."

"Rare ability. Just like her mother."

"Yes, like her mother."

Qrow finished off the rest of the glass.

* * *

AN: Well it's begun. Tell me what you think. Next chapter will be a year later with Weiss and Blake.


	2. Weiss and Blake

"Now Miss Schnee. Here's your itinerary for today."

"Fine. whatever just leave it there. I'll look at it once we get to the hotel."

Weiss gestured to the empty seat next to her, not even bothering to look at her new assistant as they rode in the Schnee Dust Company's limousine. It's not that looking out the window was interesting to her, it's just that she didn't want anything to have to do with the person inside.

She was traveling again on her father's orders under the same excuse: to look at how the Schnee Dust Company operated. Deep inside she didn't believe that excuse for a second. She may have been 13 years-old but she wasn't stupid. None of the activities scheduled for her ever had much to do with the real operations.

"Miss, you should really take a look at it. You need to prepare for your meeting with-"

"I KNOW. It's another empty-headed drooling "young executive" or son of some ridiculous board member who's going to show me around the offices and then some kind of dinner to be polite now just shut up and tell me when we're at the hotel."

In front of her was her assistant, Sebastian ,sardine or sardonic, whatever. His name didn't matter. He'd be gone in a couple of weeks anyway if she had anything to say about it. She'd driven so many away she already had her own method.

The scenery of Vale was boring. It's not because she knew the lay of the land or because it seemed plain or pedestrian to her. The boredom was because she knew she'd never get to experience any of it. She'd traveled to almost every major city around Remnant, but always on a schedule and not once given a chance to do anything but look at the scenery through her car or hotel window. They always said it was out of consideration for enemies that may target her. They had a point but she doubted that was the real reason.

She kept brooding the entire ride to the largest and most expensive hotel in all of Vale, the Royal Veil. It was the kind of tacky name only someone obsessed with money and rank could think of with an interior to match.  
 _  
'Royal purple. Disgusting. I bet this hotel's owned by some noble trying to move up in the world.'_

Weiss walked through the lobby toward the elevators. Her assistant would handle the check in. Besides, she already knew which room was reserved for her. Just push the button for the top floor. She had hoped to have some time to herself in her hotel room before the unpleasantness of the day.

"Oh Ms. Schnee. It's a pleasure to see you've arrived on time."

Or not.

She turned around, immediately putting on her best business voice. The tone of his greeting was enough to tell who it was. Every one of them always had that haughty tone of voice.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Verdant"

"The pleasure is all mine." he said as he kissed the back of her hand. "and call me Grey."

She already knew all about today's escort. After the first time where she went in blind she, a day she's still hoping to forget, she made a point to learn what she could about the ones sent to be her "tour guides". This time it was a young executive who had just earned his position as director of some mine. They were all relatively young and at 23 this one was the youngest, especially for his position in her family's company. He didn't get in on his ability though. His father was on the board of directors.  
 _  
'Tell me father why I have to do this. I'm just 13 for dust's sake!'_

"You are rather early for our meeting. We were supposed to meet you in your office at 5."

 _'That's 3 hours from now you fool. Can't you at least give me some time to rest?'_

"Yes but I wanted to meet you as soon as possible."  
 _  
'Do you really think you're the first one to try to catch me off-guard with this stunt?'_

"Excuse me Miss Schnee. I have the key to the royal suite."

It's not every day she's grateful for her assistant but his interruption couldn't have been at a better time. Any longer and he'd have gotten an opening to invite her out to lunch which she'd have a hard time refusing. She thanked him as she took her card key before turning to her obnoxious guest.

"If you'll excuse me, I wish to take a short rest seeing as I'm a bit jetlagged. If you don't mind we can meet at our appointed time."

"Of course Miss Schnee. It was a pleasure."

Weiss quickly pressed the close door button on the elevator and watched Mr. Verdant disappear. She sighed deeply.

"Is it because I'm not as capable as Winter? Or is it just because I was born second?"

She immediately realized she had said that in front of her assistant who seemed to look down at her with pity.

"You didn't hear anything you hear me?" Weiss threatened.

"Of course Miss Schnee."

* * *

The night wasn't supposed to go this way.

She was supposed to go to dinner with an unpluasat escort and at the end of the night politely tell him off, go back into her hotel room, take a long soak in the tub, and watch a girly movie until she fell asleep. Just a few minutes ago she was grumbling about the unpleasant dinner with an even more unpleasant man she hoped to never meet again while her assistant was on the phone preparing her usual once she arrived at the hotel. So why was she laying inside of the burning wreckage of what was once a limousine?

Weiss slowly regained her senses to the last few seconds of the explosion. Someone had rigged her limo with a bomb. She realized she was lucky she wore her bracelets infused with wind dust for self-defense. Not that they were of any use now after absorbing the full blast from the explosion. She realized the others in the car didn't fare so well. It was surreal to her that the chunks of flesh around her had once been people she had just been talking to seconds ago. The youngest Schnee noticed a ring on a severed finger suddenly feeling a deep guilt for not even trying to learn her assistant's name.  
 _  
'Calm down Weiss! You're a Schnee. Push all unnecessary thoughts out and think about what do do next'_

Her breathing stabilized as she found an opening through one of the blown out windows. Diving through the opening without any consideration for what was on the other side she landed on the hard gravel of the street.  
 _  
'Whoever they are might still be here. I have to find somewhere to hide and fast.'_

Leaving behind the smoldering wreckage of the company limousine and the bodies of the dead, Weiss fled into the night.

* * *

 _ **'On a Nearby Rooftop'**_

"Any survivors?"

Blake had been watching the entire scene as it happened through her binoculars. It had been her fourth operation since Patch a year ago, as well as her second assassination. She hated herself for thinking it but she felt glad that bombings were so impersonal. The young Faunus wondered if she could do it, look a person in the eye and pull the trigger. Maybe she'd even have to slit their throat. Would she one day be forced one day to make that choice?

It was then she noticed a small figure dive out of the wreckage and take off into a nearby dark alley.

"Blake." Adam's tone was as harsh as ever. "Are there survivors or not?"

His protege hesitated. She knew who it was. It was the youngest Schnee daughter who was also supposed to be in the car. She felt terror in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what would happen if Adam knew she was alive. Despite having watched the bombing, she wasn't ready to see a murder in person, especially not when it was to a girl her age.

"I'm not sure. I'll go check it out." Blake said as she handed her White Fang vest and grimm mask to her partner, taking only her completed Gambol Shrowd and two-way radio disguised as a scroll.

"Fine. Just don't get caught. I'll watch for the police."

As the young faunus climbed down the side of the building she was thinking how grateful she was Adam wasn't a tracker. In the White Fang, trackers were always chosen from those who could see in the dark and luckily bull faunus like Adam couldn't. This gave her the perfect excuse to search for the girl alone before another tracker arrived.

Blake followed the same path she'd seen the fugitive take and went down the alley. She stepped into the shadows pf the alley, feeling her night vision kicked in far from the reach of the streetlights. Looking around for clues she noticed dark stains that forming a pattern leading around the nearby dumpster as well as the faint smell of blood. Her ears twitched as she noticed the soft clanging of metal on the nearby concrete emanating from that area.

 _'She found a weapon.'_

Blake approached carefully. Just like a cornered animal was unpredictable, so would the girl be. She remembered how the White Fang always spoke of the Schnee as something to be wary of. She opted to avoid confrontation by calling her first.

"Hello."

Nothing.

"I just want to talk."

This time, instead of silence she heard shuffling from the spot the faunus had determined her to be.

"Are you with them?"

"...Yes. I am but right now I don't pose a threat to you." She tried to reason.

The voice scoffed. "After what your group just did to me and my people you have the gall to tell me you don't pose a threat?"

The White Fang member slowly rounded the steel dumpster hoping to get a good view of the girl.

"Look, I know you have every right not to believe me, but I do just want to talk."

"and how am I supposed to believe you?" Was Blake slowly reaching to her?

"...because if I was after your life I'd have taken it already." She mentally slapped herself.

 _'Great job Blake, try to gain her trust by telling you could kill her at anytime.'_

"...fine."  
 _  
'Wow that actually worked'_

She finally got a view of the hidden girl. The first thing the faunus noticed, as per her training, was that she was right about the pipe in her hand but it wasn't what stood out the most. It was the lack of fear and the reflection of pride in her light blue eyes. She wasn't scared or desperate. She was angry. Even in the Schnee girl's haggard state with what used to be the her expensive white dress intentionally ripped up and badly bandaged feet she still reflected a semblance of authority.

"First, tell me why you people did it."

Blake chose her words carefully.

" You weren't our target. At least, not the primary target."

"but I was still a target." She narrowed her eyes at the faunus.

"Yes. You were." Blake continued, "Our primary target was Grey Verdant for his involvement in the Schnee Dust Company's abuses of faunus labor in their dust mines."

"...and that's it?" Weiss bit at the girl.

"what do you mean that's it?" Blake began to lose her patience, "Do you know what happens in the mines?"

Before the Schnee had a chance to answer the beeping of Blake's scroll interrupted them.

"The second team are on their way. I want you to hold your position until they arrive."

Blake could read the girl's eyes saying 'So this is the end?'. Between the youngest Schnee's accusing eyes and Adam's orders she quickly made her decision.

"Negative. The girl ran farther than I expected and I heard a patrol vehicle on its way. I'll give chase as long as I can and report back."

"Affirmative. Good luck."

Putting her scroll away Blake held out her hand to the girl in front of her.

"Let's continue this conversation somewhere else. I have an idea of where to go."

The Schnee heiress thought about it for a second until she agreed.

"Fine. Besides, I don't know where to go anyway." She followed behind, her injured feet having a noticeable effect on her gait. "I'm sure you already know, but my name is Weiss Schnee."

"Blake Belladona."

Despite it being her real name, Blake wondered if Weiss believed her.

"Alright Blake, lead the way."

"Affirmative. Good luck."

Adam was known to always be in control of his emotions, but this time he couldn't help but grit his teeth at the situation. Blake wasn't as good a liar as she thought she was. He'd been with enough trackers to know that there's no way she didn't see who ran away and where. Now she was making up excuses to avoid the another tracker.

He wondered what she was hiding.

 _'It doesn't matter. She's not really a threat in the end.'_

He pulled out his scroll and set the frequency to his last communication before communicating with his protege.

"Team 2. Belay that last order. I want you to find her but keep your distance. Report her movements back to me."

"Roger that."

He'll let her play her game for now. Once she's older she'll learn that the world isn't as hopeful as she thinks it is. She will learn that the White Fang is the only hope for the future of all Faunus.

It hadn't been hard to find a door with a pickable lock behind a nearby convenience store. Of course Blake took full advantage of it, leading the other girl through the pitch black storage room. She was careful not to lead Weiss to kick any stray boxes that would aggravate the cuts on her bandaged feet.

"Aren't you going to turn on the lights Ms. I-can-see-in-the-dark?" Weiss complained.

"Only if you want to set of the alarm and have this place swarming with police in minutes."

The heiress stored that information in the back of her memory for possible future use. It would help her get away should she need it, but for now she made a promise to discuss something with this girl, Blake.

As she sat down in against some boxes where Blake instructed her to one word came to her mind: squalid. The could feel a layer of dust from the ground beneath her fingers. They probably hadn't cleaned in a while.  
 _  
'I bet the box I'm leaning against is moldy too.'_

She heard Blake's footsteps returning from whatever errand she had after arriving. She knelt in front of Weiss and pulled the girl's feet toward her.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Treating your injuries." Blake said as she unwrapped the bloody scrap of cloth from Weiss's feet. " I can't have you getting infected. Why were you running around barefoot anyway?"

"Well excuse me if I can't run around in heels! I didn't have a choice.", she looked at her damaged foot, "besides, I hadn't noticed until after I ran away."

"Oh."

"So, before you were interrupted you were talking about why the White Fang wanted to kill us?"

Blake wondered if it was a Schnee straight to be so straight to the point.

"I know Mr. Verdant had just recently been appointed director of the mine in the Southeast of Vale but what exactly did he do that necessitated THAT?"

Sure he was kind of a jerk who was trying to use her to move up in the world but-

'No Weiss, remember not to speak ill of the dead.'

Blake meanwhile, considered where to begin.

"Ms. Schnee."

"Weiss. Just call me Weiss." She clipped.

"Weiss. Just how much do you know about the labor conditions for faunus in your company?"

"I... I don't...Are you talking about the mines?" She was hesitant.

"Yes. The conditions are terrible and downright illegal, especially for the faunus. They're overworked and practically starved and all of you just abuse them because the mines are far away and you can buy off those in power."

These were rumors that had been plaguing the Schnee Dust Company for ages. The kind of rumors that had even forced her father or one of his PR squad to go out of their way to address. They'd always denied them though and Weiss bought into the rhetoric, if only out of denial. Then again, in the back of her mind she always had doubts. After all, adults talked in front of children more than they care to admit.

"How do I know you're not just lying to me?" the young heiress questioned.

"I've been there. I saw firsthand what's happening there. Since it's in a grimm infested area, no one can leave without the approval of the boss."

"If it's true, which I still don't completely believe, don't you think you could have fond another way to go about it? You think that justified the White Fang killing Mr. Verdant? Killing my assistant and chauffeur? TRYING TO KILL ME?" Weiss slowly seemed to lose her composure, " Just how many people has the White Fang killed from our company alone? How many board members and executives and their families? What about the bystanders?"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She tensed, eliciting a wince from the injured girl who she'd been tending to. Blake quickly finished administering first aid and sat down across from Weiss.

"Oh understand what? That the White Fang believes that murder will solve all their problems? That terrorism is going to change the world? Do you even think what the White Fang is doing is going to change people's view of faunus in a positive way? Just what's their endgame really?"

Blake shrank back at the accusations of the girl he had attempted to kill about an hour ago. Did she really even know what the White Fang was fighting for beyond the rhetoric?

"You're right. I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if I ever did." She breathed deeply to gather her thoughts.

"I was born into the White Fang and always fed the same lines. 'We're doing this for the good of all faunus.' or 'We're fighting for equality.' and at one point I could say they were. That was back when we were still the old White Fang. This new White Fang though, are we really going to change the world through fear? Is all this killing going to really bring us the equality we originally fought for? Not to mention the other odd actions..."

"Other odd actions?"

Blake toyed with waving it off, but in the end felt like it was more important to be honest.

"The White Fang have been collecting relics and other rare and expensive things. You know, the kind that Hunters or Scavengers usually find or bring back from their expeditions. Maybe they sell them. I'm not sure. "

"Nonsense." Weiss lectured. "My family are huge art collectors. If anything new or expensive like that showed up, underground or not, we'd have heard of it."

Blake raised her eyebrow. "So your family has underground connections?"

"It's not like I'm proud of it." She truly wasn't. In fact, she hated the very idea of it.

Without much to continue, the pair quickly settled into an awkward silence. The faunus girl noticed through the darkness that her companion seemed to be struggling for words but didn't say anything, opting to let her find what she wanted to say.

"So Blake," she began to speak up, "what you said before about the mines. How am I supposed to believe what you're telling me is the truth?"

"I guess you can't. You'll just have to look it up and see for yourself."

Blake wondered if she got through to her even a little bit.

* * *

 _ **The next morning**_

Weiss had been the first one to fall asleep, the exhaustion of the preceding events finally catching up to her. Blake had followed closely behind in the half-sleep she had been trained for by the White Fang. It became useful sometime after daybreak when the owner, who Blake observed through the small crack in the door to the storeroom. She watched as the woman, a deer faunus, unlocked the front door, switched on the lights, and went through her daily routine of preparing the store for business.

"Hey Blake, I take it that it's time to go?"

While Blake had been observing the store owner it seems Weiss had already woken up, walked around, and picked up some new slippers the store sold. The soft bottoms of their shoes and loose nature of the slippers themselves didn't appear like they'd be good for running.

"Yeah. Looks like it. The shopkeeper is here."

"Alright. I'll just go out to the front of the store and ask them to call the police."

Blake blocked the door from the youngest Schnee's approach.

"No! You can't!"

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Oh? And why not?"

"She's a faunus. If we got her involved after all that's happened I can't imagine what people would think."

The White Fang girl hoped her imploring would have an effect on the already anxious Weiss. The white haired girl just sighed.

"You really do care about faunus don't you?"

Blake just silently nodded.

"Alright then! Let's find somewhere else to go. We can even find our way back to the hotel." She said in a show of bravado as she charged toward the backdoor. "So! Are you coming? She can't figure out we were here can she?"

Before Blake had a chance to reach her, Weiss threw a small plastic package at the faunus girl who inspected it with confusion.

"A ribbon?"

"If they're looking for faunus then it's best to hide those ears of yours and since there aren't any hats here this is the second best option." Her tone had a fire to it that Blake hadn't seen the night before.

Blake opened the package, pulling out the small black ribbon before tying it in a bow around her ears. She twitched her ears trying to find a comfortable position for the bow.

"Alright let's go."

"One last thing." Weiss stopped, " Remember what you said last night about looking things up for yourself?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Let's make a deal. I'll look into my family's affairs if you look into yours."

Blake looked confused. "What?"

"If we manage to get out of here unscathed I'll look into the the affairs of my family's business and you'll look into what the White Fang is really up to. If there really is something maybe we can do something about it."

The newly bow-clad girl considered it for a second before smirking.

"Deal."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile on the outskirts of Vale**_

"Look, we're almost back to Vale. So what did you think of the trip?"

"It was fun!...but very tiring. Oh and I've gotten a lot stronger too!" Ruby chirped happily.

She patted the weapon holstered on her back. "Oh and I can't wait to show Yang this! She's going to be so excited."

Qrow chuckled lightly, "I bet. You've even gotten stronger too. You think you're going to be a match for her?"

"Of course! I promised to get stronger and now I even have the base for my weapon!"

The rustling of the nearby trees stopped their cheerful talking as three beowolves approached through the dense flora long the road. Ruby suddenly got excited.

"Oh can I take them uncle Qrow? They're small ones!"

Qrow instantly dashed at the first one slashing it in half with little trouble.

"I'll let you have these two. I still haven't taught you all about larger groups."

Ruby pouted again but still excited at the battle ahead.

Wordlessly she unholstered her weapon, letting it form into a scythe behind her. The huntress-in-training charged at the first pulling off a wide horizontal slice in hopes of emulating her teacher hoping for the same success. The beowolf howled in pain as its arm flew in the air. Ruby gave a frustrated growl before jumping back to gain some space her scythe blade still in front of her in a defensive stance.

"You swung one step too soon."

The second beowolf jumped at her as Ruby as she forced her blade upwards in an arc bisecting it almost instantly. She stopped the blade above her head before turning the blade outwards charging at her final, injured enemy before taking it down with a single slice. Qrow applauded at her efforts.

"That was pretty good. Still rough. But good."

"So can I get a sniper rifle on it now!" Her eyes shone hopefully.

"Not yet. You still need to get a good handle of the movements." He thought for a second, "I'd say in four or five months if you keep up with your training."

The girl bounced around happily at the prospect before being called by Qrow to continue their journey toward Vale.

* * *

AN: these chapters are turning a lot more serious than I originally planned them to be. If you've got any criticisms or comments go ahead.


	3. Ruby and Roman & The Escape

It had only been a few minutes since the two fugitive girls had snuck out of the shop making sure to leave no evidence of their previous presence. They kept to the shadows hoping to avoid attention under the sting of the early morning sun. Blake had told the heiress that they should be wary of who they meet. If the White Fang was still after her then anyone they saw was a possible lookout. They would appear more obvious now seeing as the city was just waking up, making any casual bystander, barring the drunk passed out on the street, suspicious.

"Alright Blake, where are we going?"

The faunus peeked around the corner of the alley into the nearby city street. The amount of people walking around were minimal. Apparently the shopkeeper was such an early riser that the the early morning traffic hadn't even formed yet.

"Not sure yet. All I know is we need to find a new place to hide and fast."

She looked around and noticed a delivery truck belonging to "From Dust Till Dawn", the name of a local dust shop stopping at a red light. Blake silently pulled on Weiss' arm directing her to the back of the truck which the faunus easily opened which they jumped into. The pair of girls settled themselves inside the truck propping themselves against the metal boxes to avoid slipping inside.

"Ok," Blake began, "this truck belongs to a local shop so it's either going to its supplier or directly to the shop. Either way we're going to have to take the long way back to the hotel."

"Then why did we bother to getting on if we're not headed in the right direction?" Weiss questioned.

"You know the White Fang agents will be waiting for us around the obvious places such as the police station and near the hotel's entrance. There's no need to wait by Vale's entrance because of the Grimm. Of course it also means that there will probably be a couple along the direct path to the hotel. By taking the long way around we're going to have more leeway to move around since they won't be expecting it."

The youngest Schnee initially sighed but accepted Blake's reasoning. "Oh well, if we need to do some exploring then who am I to complain?"

Her reaction seemed curious to the faunus.

"Is it just me or does it seem you're enjoying this?"

"Me? Nonsense! Why would I want to look around such a drab city like Vale much less its shopping district?" Weiss's cheeks showed a light redness.

"You are enjoying this!" Blake found herself involuntarily smiling.

"Be quiet you." she tried to hide her embarrassment. "I rarely get a chance to go out on my own ok? My family is very strict like that."

Blake apologized while considering her companion's last statement. "Well, if we can find a clothing shop who says we can't do a little exploring before we go drop you off?"

Weiss' smile was slightly bitter. "If I might not make it back I may as well enjoy it while I can right?"

* * *

 _ **Along the streets of Vale**_

"So uncle Qrow, where are we going?" Ruby asked skipping beside her uncle.

"Nowhere in particular. I just have to go check in at the Hunter's Guild."

Ruby nodded. She'd followed him to a couple of Hunters Guilds before. Qrow had explained it to her that it wasn't exactly a guild since Hunters operated in a gray area between the military and the police, sometimes as both, if necessary. He explained the way they historically formed had them originally more as mercenaries that were awkwardly integrated into the governmental systems. They also served as a kind of glue between the nations since Hunters could travel and take work from a guild in another nation baring joining their military. No matter how strange it seemed, it was that very strangeness that attracted more reckless and adventurous types into the fold.

When they arrived Ruby noted the building itself wasn't that impressive. Barring the sign indicating what it was, the two-story brick building didn't have any particularly distinctive designs although it was fairly amazing to the young girl during her first visit. As she walked up the stone steps, the older man pushed open the heavy wooden door and directed Ruby to sit in the lobby area while he conducted his business. The first time Ruby had been to one she had wanted to follow him but it seems Hunter business isn't always for just anyone to listen to.

Once he made sure Ruby was sitting at the leather couch, noting she began picking at the bowl of candy at the center of the table (it seems the head of Vale's guild was a fan of sweets), he walked up to the only attendant behind one of the counters. She was a young brunette woman in her mid-twenties not wearing any distinctive uniform for guild attendants. The only sign she worked there was a brooch in her hair with the guild symbol on it. The Hunter profession always attracted unique individuals.

"So where's your badge?" she was straight to the point.

He handed over his Hunter badge to the woman.

"Great." the woman clipped uninterestedly, "We need all the Hunters we can get. It's an emergency. All other available Hunter have already been dispatched."

"I noticed that this place was strangely empty." Qrow noted.

"Of course. The only reason I'm here is because someone has to be." He noted a slight bitterness in her voice. "Anyways here are the details." She handed him a large folder for him to paw through.

"Hmm...the youngest daughter of the Schnee company president is missing. Considering the client can hire ever Hunter who walks in the door this is fairly serious."

He looked at the picture of the angry young woman in the file.  
 _  
'She can't be that much older than Ruby'_

He handed the file back to the attendant. _"_ Fine. I'll do it."

Ruby stopped playing with the candy wrappers which she'd folded into little figures the moment she heard Qrow approach.

"Hey Ruby, can you make it back to the hotel on your own?" He questioned.

"Duh! It's only a few blocks away from here." Then it hit her "Why? Ooooh is it something big? I bet it's something big!"

"Yes it is and that's all I can say. Can I trust you to make it to the hotel by yourself?" Ruby noted he was in his serious mode. No matter what she said she wouldn't get anything out of him when he was like this.

She saluted him in an exaggerated manner. "Aye aye!" before dashing out the door.

Qrow watched her go and chuckled to himself. Sure she was eleven, but she'd already proven herself more than capable of something as easy as that. Besides, the hotel was usually for traveling Hunters and only a few blocks away. There's no way she'd get in a lot of trouble in that amount of time.

* * *

Ruby pranced along the sidewalk seemingly without a care in the world. Sure she wondered about Qrow's emergency and what could be happening but she also understood that it's not her place to get involved in Hunter business. Yet. Besides, she'd learned during their trip through the grimm-infested forests that he's probably feel her watching if she did try to follow.

The 11 year-old stopped at the street corner, waiting for the light to change on her short journey to the hotel. The wind from the vehicles rushing in front her ruffled her red dress as she observed the scenery of a large city like Vale with amazement. Ruby would only have to travel a couple of blocks but the tall buildings and large crowds were alien to her having come from an isolated little island like Patch.

Once the light changed Ruby, still enthralled by the scenery she was experiencing while alone for the first time, hadn't even noticed she'd finished crossing the street until a bystander grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the way thus preventing her collision with a nearby mailbox.

"Hey kid. Watch where you're going. At this rate you're going to end up roadkill." Her savior didn't seem the cheerful type.

"Sorry about that." the girl laughed, "everything here just seems so big."

"Of course everything's big for a brat." He brushed away the red hair covering his right eye.

 _'Looks like a country bumpkin as well.'_

"Don't call me a brat!" Ruby huffed. "In fact I'm training to be a Huntress." she boasted showing off the weapon holstered behind her back.

He smirked and scoffed at her, gesturing to his maroon uniform. If she was what she said she was then it should have been instantly recognizable to any aspiring Hunter or Huntress. Judging by Ruby's squeal of excitement he was right.

"You go to Beacon Academy!?" she began gushing, "How is it? Was it hard to get in? How old do you have to be to get in? Do they let-"

"Woah. Settle down kid one question at a time." The young man cut her off.

"Yes. I am a third year so one more year and I'll be full-fledged Hunter." He wondered if he was being childish showing off to a kid. "Name's Roman Torchwick and in a few years you'll be hearing a lot about me."

"So are you the top of your class?" Her starry-eyed look seemed to pierce right through his defenses.

"Well no. I'm second in the class." She could hear him mutter "Damn Neo" under his breath though she didn't acknowledge it.

"Oh." She deflated a little. "Well second to the top is still great. I bet you've been on a lot of adventures!"

Roman couldn't help smiling at the energetic little girl in front of him.  
 _  
'She is kind of a cute kid.'_

He then noticed she instantly quit her childish gushing and she rushed right past him, ignoring the streetlights that luckily for her didn't have any oncoming traffic at the time. Ruby hadn't rushed back the way she came but down the other side of the street on the three-way intersection toward a local dust shop. Maybe it was his instinct for trouble or maybe it was concern for the girl, but Roman found himself chasing after the girl who had disappeared into the alley behind the gray delivery truck once the light changed back.

"Damn country bumpkin's gonna get herself killed."

* * *

"I'm sure that's her!" Ruby said to herself as she bounded across the street using the fast movement technique her mentor had taught her.

While she'd been gushing over the young Hunter student she'd noticed a very familiar figure out of the corner of her eye jump out of the back of a parked delivery truck along with another girl. Even if it had been almost a year since that day, Ruby was never one to forget a friend regardless if she was now hiding her ears with a bow. She noted the name of the shop as the other two moved behind it while trying to avoid any obvious movements.

 _'Dust 'Till Dawn. Gotta remember to visit here later'_

Ruby circled around the delivery truck into the alley and found her faunus target who reached for her weapon in surprise. Ignoring the drawn weapon she leapt at her with a cheerful yell.

"Kitty!"

Blake, surprised to see the younger girl, lowered her weapon as she was hit by a happy little 75 lb rocket. They rolled to a stop on the ground in front of the Weiss who just had a look of shock plastered on her face at the scene.

As soon as Weiss' initial reaction wore off she gave her companion a look to question whether the girl in front of them was dangerous. Blake shook her head no as she turned her attention to the girl and gently pushed her off.

"Ruby? What are you doing here?" The young faunus couldn't hide her surprise and confusion.  
 _  
'and at this of all times.'_

Ruby ignored the mood as she happily recalled the immediate events from arriving to the Hunter's Guild to finding Roman to spotting them from across the street. As she told the story, Blake paid close attention, trying to find anything to get rid of the younger girl. She was glad they had finally met again, but there's no way she could allow her to get involved in their problems.

"So you're telling me not only is your uncle a Hunter but the Hunter's Guild is just a few blocks away from here?!" Weiss seemed to have a different idea altogether. Her suddenly hopeful eyes looked toward the bow-clad girl.

"You think we can send her there to get help?"

Blake instantly disagreed. "No. There's no way I want her involved in this."

"but she could be our ticket out of this mess!"

"Absolutely not. What if she gets kidnapped?" Blake tried to reason.

"Oh like anyone's going to know she knows us." Weiss rolled her eyes.

Ruby asked staring innocently as the two of them argued among themselves.

"Hey guys. What are you talking about?"

The pair of fugitives struggled to find an answer that wouldn't excite or alarm the younger girl.

"Yes. What are you talking about?"

All three of the girls' eyes shot toward the origin of the voice to find the figure of a young Beacon student leaning against the back of the truck while tipping his black bowler hat nonchalantly. Apparently he'd been listening to a good chunk of their conversation and waited for the right time to show himself.

Ruby instantly jumped between them the moment she noticed Blake reach for her weapon.

"Woah! Blake this is the guy I was telling you about."

"Roman Torchwich. Pleasure." He interrupted the small girl. "and it seems like you two are being chased by someone."  
 _  
'He's annoyingly perceptive'_ Blake thought _._

"Great not only do we have this little brat but we also have this walking fashion disaster of a Beacon student." Weiss groaned while gesturing to his hat.

"Hey this one may be a brat but I'm the oldest here so show some respect."

"Stop calling me a brat!"

"Everybody stop for a second!" Blake yelled at them, "I need to think."

"Well from the sound of it it looks like you kids could use some help." Roman began, "and if you ask nicely enough I just might think about helping you all out especially since it seems you can't go anywhere."

Blake thought about his offer for a moment. She had to admit, right now they could use some help. Even if Roman didn't seem like he was helping out of some sense of concern for them as much as amusement, he probably had a lot of experience in combat as a student of Beacon. That's something they desperately needed right now.

"Oh yeah, and who said we needed your help?"

Weiss didn't seem to share her opinion.

"Weiss, wait a second." the faunus reasoned, "Remember what you said about sending Ruby. I'd feel a lot more comfortable sending someone like him than just Ruby alone. We can't exactly have you running down the streets like that."

Weiss looked down at the condition of her ruined dress. Since last night she'd been put through the ringer and it showed. Can't exactly hide that she'd been blown up, torn up, and slept in a dirty storeroom in what was originally a beautiful white dress.  
 _  
'She's got a point'_

"Fine." She huffed. "Maybe we can hide back in that truck again while he goes and gets us rescued."

Weiss wouldn't admit it but the thought of her adventure ending so quickly had her a little disappointed.

"How boring! You're saying all I have to do is go to the Hunter's Guild and play delivery boy?" Roman was disappointed with the outcome as well. "Fine then. Just sit your butts here and I'll go get you all out of this situation. Let the brat stay here as well." He walked away from the group, waving back as if to say 'leave it to me'.

He didn't even get the chance to leave the alleyway before nearly being run over as an unmarked, black van stopped in front of him.

The side slammed open as a half-dozen fully armed men walked out to close off their exit. Their black suits and red ties and glasses gave them the distinct message of being part of a gang though Blake was surprised they weren't faunus. She instantly grabbed Weiss' arm to lead her to the other end only to find it that escape closed off as well.

 _'Humans? Why are humans after us?'_

One of the men in he group stepped forward and cleared his throat to get their attention. After that he simply pointed upwards. It was then they noticed men dressed identically pointing rifles down at the group.

The message was clear: they were caught.

* * *

 _ **Inside a Locked Room**_

"Well isn't this great." Weiss said sarcastically.

"Oh be quiet you little brat and let me think." Roman was leaning against the wall of what appeared to be a storage room.

The four of them hadn't put up much of a fight after being shown they were surrounded. They had been summarily stripped of their weapons, blindfolded, and locked in this place. Blake wondered if it was on purpose or if they were just being underestimated in being left without being tied up.

 _'Just take it as a bit of good luck within the bad.'_

"So, Blake...what's going on?"  
 _  
'Ah crap. Ruby.'  
_  
In all their confusion Blake had forgotten that Ruby still had no idea what was happening. The girl in question was sitting on top of a wooden box marked 'FRAGILE' casually swinging her legs. For a girl that had just been kidnapped without understanding why, she was remarkably easygoing.

"Oh sorry Ruby. I don't think we've even introduced ourselves."

"Well except for mister ego over there." Weiss pointed a thumb at Roman who was leaning against the wall farthest from the door.

"Hey always make a point to let people know who you are. Never know who'll need to know you someday." He said matter-of-factly.

"Riiight. Anyways," Blake interjected, "I'm Blake and this is Weiss."

"Weiss Schnee. The youngest daughter of the president of the Schnee Dust Company." For all intents and purposes, she was still proud of who she was.

"Heard you got blown up last night."

Weiss growled at Roman's offhand comment.

"and I'm Ruby! Blake and me are old friends!"

Weiss looked at her before throwing an uncertain look at Blake who caught her implication. Blake shook her head.

"Oh no. Not in that way. We met somewhere else. We met in Patch."

That seemed to assuage Weiss' worries for the moment.

"So the point is" Roman pointed at the heiress, "you're a runaway rich girl trying to find her way home right?"

"Basically."

The conversation died soon after into an awkward silence with only Ruby's humming to break the monotony. Weiss, from atop her own box, looked at the younger girl wondering exactly how she got involved with them.

"Ruby was it?" She began, "If you're from Patch, how exactly did you end up here anyway?

"Oh I just came back from an awesome adventure with my uncle Qrow! Oh you don't know my uncle Qrow but he's an AWEOME hunter and he even taught me to fight. He even helped me choose Crescent Rose."

"Crescent Rose?" Blake was interested.

"Oh yeah that's my weapon. It's a high-caliber sniper-scythe. Or at least it will be when my uncle lets me add the sniper rifle to it."

Blake was surprised at the girl's description of her future weapon. She'd remembered Adam telling her Qrow was strong and if he was able to teach Ruby to use a weapon like that then his skills really were as impressive as her mentor said. Not to mention Ruby who at 11 he was already training to use something like that. She'd probably grow into something formidable herself in the future.

Roman just laughed. "You're kidding. How could a shrimp like you swing around something like that?"

"Hey I can! I've even taken down Grimm with my Crescent Rose!" Ruby boasted her accomplishments.

"You've already fought Grimm?" Weiss raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Of course! But I am kinda new to it. I did just come back from a 3 month training trip."

After Blake asked for the details, Ruby regaled the 3 of them with tales of her first training adventure with her uncle complete with all the animated gestures only an excited 11 year-old could provide. The faunus girl was both amused and impressed at the descriptions of Qrow's training program while Weiss sounded horrified at the conditions they had lived in.

It was about an hour later they heard movement from the other side of the door followed by two identical heads poking up from the small window of the door.

"Look Miltia." said one bored girl.

"What is it Melanie?"

"It's the princess." They were looking at Weiss.

"She doesn't look like much does she?"

"I'm right here!" Weiss yelled at them. Both girls just turned toward her.

"So?" They echoed.

"We just came to see what the big deal was before they took you away." Miltia said uninterested. "By the looks of it we wasted out time."

"Stay here and collect dust with the rest of the junk in the storeroom."

Weiss looked like she was about to explode at the girls.

"Just what I needed. More annoying kids." Roman growled in frustration. He was beginning to regret this little adventure.

The girls just looked at him with the same bored look on their faces.

"Whatever."

With that, they left the group alone, the tapping of their heals slowly disappearing. Weiss, left to her own devices after meeting the girls was fuming.

"All right I'm so sick of this!" She charged at the door, "Since last night I've been blown up, cut my feet running, been chased by the White Fang, had to sleep on a dirty storeroom floor, been captured by this gang of nobodies, and now I'm being humiliated by some annoying twins I've never even met!"

With one violent pull Weiss ripped off her sleeve, then jamming the cloth between the door right above the latch.

"You!" She commanded the cocky hunter student. "Hit that as hard as you can!"

Roman looked at her like she lost her mind.

"Just what are you on about princess?"

Weiss ignored him, turning to Blake instead.

"Blake, remember when we were in the back of that truck?" The faunus nodded. "Well I gathered some dust from the shipment back there and since this thing doesn't have pockets I laced some of my dress with it."

Blake just looked surprised.  
 _  
'So that's what she was doing behind the boxes'_

"You can lace things with dust!" Ruby was giving the heiress a starry-eyed look.

"Of course! Dust is my family's business after all. If I didn't know how to do this at least I'd be a failure." She boasted. "Besides, it's just a crude lacing so it can't do anything too sophisticated beyond an enhanced effect."

"Well alright then!" Roman was digging through the box Ruby was previously sitting on. He pulled out an unopened bottle of vodka, his spirits renewed.

 _'I guess this really is a storeroom.'_ thought Blake as she watched him with the bottle.

"Stand back kiddies and let's get this show on the road!"

Roman threw the bottle at the door, hitting the scraps of cloth with practiced precision. The resulting blast was neither powerful nor precise but it was enough to force open the door which really was all they needed.  
 _  
_"Well that was disappointing." Roman frowned. "I expected the dust to create a bigger blast."

"Less complaining more running come on!" Blake was the first out the door followed by the the other two girls. Roman just shrugged and followed from behind.

"Ok first order of business is finding our weapons." Blake called to those behind her.

The hallway was longer than they initially expected, poking their heads into each room quickly for any sign of life or their weapons. Strangely they found no sign of enemies nearby, the echoing footsteps of their running was the only sign of life. It wasn't until the end of the hall when they heard chatter coming from the final room. In it, they noticed two bored henchmen playing cards in a seemingly empty room. Blake guessed they were the supposed to be guarding the hallway.

The guards didn't even have a chance to react as the faunus girl jumped on the table gaining enough leverage to kick one henchmen in the chin while the other was sent sprawling off his chair by a right hook from Roman who had instinctively followed Blake in. Roman looked at the unconscious henchman on the ground by the girl.

"You're not a normal kid are you?" He commented. Blake just shrugged.

"Stupid kids. I swear if one of my teeth is loose I'll..." The guard Roman punched apparently wasn't knocked out completely. Before the guard was able to stand the redhead stepped hard on his chest while Blake pointed one of their discarded swords at his throat.

"Alright you poor excuse for a flunkie. You're going to tell us everything we need to know or else my friend here" He gestured to Blake, "might have an accident with that sword. Kids aren't exactly good with heavy swords."

The henchmen growled in frustration at the thought of being held hostage by children but responded with an amused expression.

"Doesn't matter what I tell you, it's not like you're going to escape."

Roman applied more pressure to the guard's chest. "Alright then so you shouldn't have any trouble telling us where our weapons are being kept as well as how many of you guys are here now."

"Hey you guys?" Ruby called from behind them.

"What is it you brat can't you see we're busy here?"

"Our weapons are here." The youngest girl noted as she opened a storage locker.

"Well perfect! Hand me my cane." Ruby threw him his weapon that he pointed at the henchman's face. The sights appeared on the end of the cane along with revealing the barrel hidden within. Roman held a devilish grin as he touched the top to the man's forehead.

"Now about the amount of people you have here..."

Apparently from the man's information they'd escaped at the right time. During midday the club they were apparently under had to keep the impression of being normal so it was operated at minimum capacity: about fifteen henchmen in total. Any later and it would start filling with more people.

"You think a bunch of kids can escape from us even with those numbers you're kidding yourselves." He would have boasted farther but Blake knocked him out with a swift kick to the head.

"Took you long enough. I was tired of listening to him." Weiss sniped.

The heiress didn't seem worse for wear at the news. She dug through the locker, looking for any vials of dust just in case. Ruby, having gotten her Crescent Rose back, seemed almost ecstatic at the thought of getting into a fight.

Roman looked at the pair before turning his attention to the Blake.

"Hey kid. You seem to have experience doing this. I doubt the shrimp and the princess here will be of much help but by the looks of it they're going to try anyway."

Blake frowned, as worry showed clearly on her face. She had the same concerns when as she looked at the two of them. Ruby was still young while Weiss was unarmed. They were essentially civilians with little experience.

"Ruby. Weiss." She called to them. "I want you two to watch each other's back. We don't know what's going to happen out there ok?"

Weiss complained but eventually relented. She knew the essential weaknesses with both of them and realized maybe together they'd be a decent fighter. There really was nothing else that could be done.

"Don't worry Weiss, I'll protect you!" Ruby said confidently.  
 _  
'Don't get mad she's just a kid'_ Weiss told herself.

With that they left the guard's room and headed up the stairs prepared for battle.

* * *

They had expected there to be resistance upon reaching the main dance hall and were more than pleasantly surprised to have caught them unaware. What henchmen there were relaxing at the bar or walking around the different ends of the club as the place was still being set up for tonight.

"Everybody gun it for the door!" Yelled Blake as they rushed down the center of the dance floor toward the two henchmen blocking the large steel doors to the outside. The two had time to notice their approach and prepared for the group headed their way.

Blake, being the fastest of the four, reached them first while immediately ducking under the swing of the right one's blood red sword, following up by swiftly jumping toward and grabbing his head, taking advantage of the momentum to knee him in the face, driving his head against the door behind him and knocking him out in an instant. The second turned to attack her but a glyph appeared beneath him, lunching him into the air before Ruby quickly dispatched him with the back of her scythe.

"What was that?!" Ruby asked in a mix of confusion and excitement.

"That's my semblance. I can make glyphs to control movement." Weiss said proudly.

"Oh that's so cool! Why didn't you tell us you could use it?"

"I never had a reason to use it until now." the heiress shrugged.

Meanwhile, Blake had been trying to force the door open only to find the heavy steel doors unable to budge. The front door was locked.

"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?"

The group turned around to see that the group had indeed been preparing for them. The henchmen, still dressed in their same uniform were beginning to form around them, swords trained on the four of them. The center of the group parted as a man began approaching the group. His lack of red glasses and black vest in liu of the rest of the group's standard suit seemed to denote some position of authority.

"My Name's Hei Xiong but the call me Junior. I'm the one in charge here. I'd appreciate if you could return to the room where we left you now."

"pfft. They call you junior?" Ruby giggled, breaking the tension he was trying to build. It only served to anger him.

"Laugh all you want. You're not going to leave here without this key."Junior showed off the door key in his hand before shoving it in his pocket.

Wordlessly he signaled the group forward to capture the four fugitives. All of them with the exception of the unarmed Weiss raised their weapon in anticipation of the coming attack.

"Wait a second Junior."

"Yeah Junior, let us defeat them for you."

It was those twins, Miltia and Melanie if Blake recalled correctly. They'd been watching the events unfold from the club's viewing platform and decided that it might be amusing to get involved now that they had a chance to fight. Junior just shook his head at the twins' antics before agreeing.

"Fine then. You need more live combat anyway. It's not like they're getting away."

Junior pulled out his weapon, what looked to be a bright red club. The end of it looked like a sealed barrel for some kind of projectile weapon.  
 _  
'Sometimes I hate having to fight these hybrid weapons.'_ Thought Roman to himself.

"Alright no one interfere until I say so." Junior told his followers.

"I'll take the the one with the tacky bow." The white twin, Melanie, chuckled as she stepped forward, "She looks strong."

Miltia just gave an annoyed sigh. "Fine. I'll take the little girl. You can bring the princess along if you want to make this fun for me."

Blake, Weiss, and Ruby looked between each other and nodded, agreeing with their choices of match-ups.

"Oooh this looks like fun!" Ruby took some distance for her fight.

"We're going to have to fight them anyway so may as well do it while we have some sort of chance." Weiss reasoned before following the small scythe wielder.

"Let's just get done with this quickly." Blake had been staring down Melanie the whole time as she approached her.

"I guess no one wants to fight me?" Roman seemed amused as he pointed the end of his cane at Junior. "Sounds good to me. Fighting a bunch of brats seems boring. I'd much rather fight the big boss."

Blake was the first to charge at her enemy, Gambol Shrowd finding her initial swing blocked by a Melanie's heel with a loud clang of metal on metal. She took note of the blade sticking out of the back.

 _'So she fights with heels.'_

They jumped back to gain some space and got into their respective stances. From then on Blake found herself on the defensive under the flurry of Melanie's attacks. It wasn't that they were particularly strong or fast though she was agile but her liberal use of feints. She couldn't very well counter without knowing where the kick would come from and it was getting annoying since neither would land a blow.  
 _  
'This is getting us nowhere'_

In that moment Melanie changed gears as Blake ducked under a crescent kick to the head followed by a forward kick to her face that the faunus was forced to avoid with her semblance, leaving a shadow as she dodged to the attacking girl's right only to find a back kick headed in her direction. She instinctively leapt back to the get some distance and rethink her strategy only to be followed by the other girl who followed with a roundhouse kick that Blake rolled away from.

"If you think that vanishing act will save you you have another thing coming." the girl taunted.

Blake thought for a second what she would do before charging in again with renewed determination. If Melanie was going to abuse feinting to throw off an enemy then Blake would too.

The next series of attacks had the henchgirl in the white dress kicking at air as Blake left hadows of herself and disappeared with each successive kick. She kicked forward, the faunus would appear behind only to disappear again and reappear beside her.

"Running away isn't going to get you anywhere you know? Now stand _still_." she said as she delivered another high kick to another shadow.

'There!'

Blake reappeared crouched directly beneath her kick, grabbing her leg with one arm and sweeping her support leg with her weapon as she used her leverage to throw her backwards. The faunus followed Melanie forward landing directly on top of her. Without a moment's hesitation she swung the blunt edge of her weapon at the henchgirl's head, the force of the impact multiplied with Melanie's head against the ground, knocking her out.

Said Blake as she got off the unconscious girl.

"That's gonna hurt when she wakes up."

* * *

Meanwhile Ruby seemed to have trouble with Miltia who was easily able to avoid the younger girl's wide swings. With each swing the other girl easily jumped over, sidestepped, and sometimes even countered her movements. That was a lesson Ruby learned the hard way when she swung down only for the henchgirl to move inside her weapon's range, push her weapon away with her left arm, and deliver a right straight with her claws. If the Ruby hadn't had practice fighting Yang that may have been the end of her.  
 _  
'There's no way I can win like this. I need speed!'_

All of a sudden an idea popped in her head.

"Weiss!" she called her partner between swings, "I need your glyphs!"

"What?" Weiss said confused.

"My weapon is slow and relies on extra speed and power from the recoil of the sniper rifle which I obviously don't have yet! Give me the speed I need to beat her!"  
 _  
'She didn't even ask if I could. Oh well here goes nothing.'_

She tried to time her glyphs with Ruby's attack which worked as the increased speed of her attack had Militia rolling to avoid but also sent the attacking girl flying farther than she intended to.

Weiss used another glyph to provide a platform for her to land on before she crashed into one of the tables around the dance floor.

"Good! Use both!" Ruby called no worse for wear.

It hadn't taken long after to get the hang of each other's movements overwhelming the other girl who could now only avoid in desperation at the little red rocket that kept charging at her.

"Stop being so annoying."

She signaled one of the henchmen who threw his sword at her. She timed her next attack perfectly by jumping over the attacking Ruby and throwing the sword straight at the heiress who had no time to form a glyph as she dodged the sword as it planted itself in her previous position. Miltia didn't even have to look at Ruby to know she was probably on the other side of the room by now. She turned her attention toward Weiss.

"Now to take out this little annoyanc-"

The henchgirl didn't have to think before a red rocket crashed into her with a force so strong she was instantaneously swept away flying over the tables next to the dance floor and crashing into the wall unconscious. Weiss looked astounded at the scene and turned back to the spot where the impact happened only to find Ruby cheerfully celebrating her victory.

"Just what in dust was THAT?!"

Ruby just smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess I just found my semblance."

* * *

Roman and Junior had been watching the fights around them as they exchanged blows not really gaining an advantage over each other.  
 _  
'I wonder if I was that strong at their age.'_ Roman thought to himself as he blocked another blow from Junior's club.

"You realize that their winning doesn't matter." Junior stated. "I've already called the rest of my men who should be here in minutes."

Roman just smirked. "Normally I'd agree but winning isn't the name of the game here and I'll show you why."

Junior swung down as hard as he could, expecting the feeling of impact against the young man's cane only to find it phase right through. Roman took that split second to point the end of his weapon at the gang leader's chest and fire sending him sprawling into the ground in a firey explosion in front of his men. Junior seemed to have trouble catching his breath even as a couple of his men helped him up.

"What the hell was _that_?"

"My semblance. Every Hunter needs one." He boasted. "Very subtle and sadly only good once or twice in a fight before the enemy catches on. It's much better for stealing."

As he said that he pulled what appeared to be Junior's key from his pocket before twirling it in his fingers. The sight threw Junior into a panic patting his vest down for proof he still had it.

"Hey kid catch!" Roman called out to Blake before throwing her the key.

Understanding his intentions, she caught it and made a break for the door. The other two girls who saw the scene also ran for the door.

"No way I'm letting you out of here." Junior muttered to himself as he transformed his club into a rocket launcher positioning on his shoulder before pointing it just above the door.

"Alright we're getting out of here!" Ruby cheered following the other girls out of there.

Just above the exit the youngest girl stopped, remembering Roman hadn't crossed yet. Just as she turned around she noticed the group of missiles headed their way as the older teen ran towards her.

"Come on you can make it! We all need to get out together!" she yelled out.

"Of course I'll make it you brat just get out of my way!"

He dove through the doorway, grabbing Ruby and rolling through just as the missiles hit above it, collapsing it and sealing the entrance. Roman collapsed on the ground in front of the rubble staring up at the setting sun.

"Well that was a rush."

It had only taken a short minute before they were surrounded by police pointing weapons and asking questions about the successive events. Soon after the girls were taken to the station for processing and releasing to their specific parents or guardians. Blake never made it to the station, having disappeared sometime between being left in the police cruiser and the drive to the station. The girls, learning once they reached the station, were sad they never got to say goodbye to the girl but of the two, Weiss understood just why she couldn't.

* * *

 _ **Junior's Club: That Night**_

Junior sat behind the bar nursing his drink as he watched his men clean up after the disaster of a fight that happened a few hours ago. He'd sent the Malachite twins home to nurse their wounds and think about why they lost. They may have lost but they'll be a lot stronger for it.

"You seem to have had a hard day." A tall, thin man sat beside him. The man wore an expensive suit that just screamed 'everything involving you is above my pay grade'. He wasn't particularly old. Mid-thirties probably with only a few white hairs beginning to show in his still jet black hair.

"I hope you think this job's worth it." Junior grumbled. "Like you said I ordered my men not to use firearms."

"Yes and they preformed moderately. Just about what I expected for their type." He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I'd offer you but you don't seem the type to drink this." Junior poured more vodka into his empty glass.

"Of course not. I wouldn't serve that swill to the family dog."

The gang leader snorted. "You have a family? I'm surprised anyone can stomach you."

The tall man ignored the comment and continued on.

"Let's get back down to business shall we?" He pulled out a check and placed it on the countertop, pushing it slowly toward Junior. He didn't pick it up.

"For both services rendered and compensation for the..." he looked around at the state of the club, "damages."

"I assume the police was your doing too?"

"Your failure to keep her secure forced our hand. Don't worry about them coming after you. We've taken care of that."

The man stood up looking down at Junior. "It was a pleasure to do business with you. I look forward to hiring someone to come instead for out next meeting. Now if you'll excuse me I have one last order of business for tonight."

"What you still have to put a hit on someone?" The gang leader sniped at the man.

The man merely chuckled. "Something like that."

* * *

 _ **Vale Police Station Interrogation Room  
**_  
"Hey let me out! I've already told you everything I know!"

Roman Torchwick had been sitting in the interrogation room for hours since he had been brought in. He'd been interrogated once and then simply left to rot and it was getting on his nerves. At first he understood that they had more important things to take care of, what with the situation with the gang and the princess in general but anyone's patience could only last so long.

"You can't hold people this long. Hey is anyone out there!" He knocked on the one-way mirror hoping to get attention from anyone behind it.

"You can sit down now Mr. Torchwick."

The door slid open as the man in the suit walked in with a manila folder in hand, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table in the interrogation room.

"So who are you? You're not a cop."

He slid the folder towards Roman.

"This is the police file on you. I'd like you to read it so you can understand the situation you're in."

Roman picked it up and read through it his anger quickly boiling over the more he read. He slammed the file on the table in a fit of rage.

"Vandalism, theft, murder? What is this garbage?! I didn't do any of this!"

The man sat there unperturbed.

"The Schnee Dust Company has a vested interest in keeping all of today's events secret. Our stockholders wouldn't be happy to learn about the assassination of one of our managers nor an attempted kidnapping of the daughter of the president. That commotion at the club made that significantly harder so we had to make some adjustements."

"So you're blaming me for kidnapping!"

"Of course. It wouldn't be hard to believe someone with your record attempting to kidnap the youngest Schnee daughter for a ransom. Much better than announcing the White Fang was behind it."

"What about Beacon! They won't believe you. A prestigious school like that probably does extensive background checks for students."

The man in the suit just smirked. "Well looks like they're going to have to revise their method of doing background checks now won't they?"

"What about the limousine explosion! You cant hide that it happened!" Roman had already lost his composure completely.

"Oh that? Truly a tragic accident. Poor Mr. Verdant was hit by a drunk driver on his way home from a long night at the office."

With that said, the man stood up and walked toward the door.

"I do appreciate your time and do have a nice day. We won't be meeting again." He said as he shut the interrogation door behind him, ignoring the enraged yells of the occupant inside.

That night, Roman Torchwick mysteriously vanished from his jail cell. At the same time, Beacon lost Roman and Neo, two of its top students.

* * *

AN: This Chapter turned out far longer than I intended. If you read tell me what you thought of the fight scenes. Next chapter looks into what Yang's been up to with special guests Nora and Ren.


	4. Yang's Summer Vacation

Yang was bored.

Summer vacations were in full swing and she was finding she had nothing to do. No, that's wrong. It's not that she didn't have anything to do but she wasn't finding what she did have to do as interesting. She was stuck on the same boring island doing the same kinds of boring things. Meanwhile, Ruby was on a trip learning directly from a full fledged Hunter learning who knows what special techniques. Not only that, they'd told her she couldn't come. She was older and more experienced than Ruby! Besides, it's not like she had anything more important to do.

It seems Yang wasn't as much bored as she was jealous of her little sister.

 _'I didn't get to go on a training trip when I was her age.'_ she thought bitterly to herself.

The blonde gave the punching bag one final blow before collapsing in exhaustion. She walked towards a nearby bench where she had left her stuff, dropping onto the cushioned seat while taking a large swig of her water bottle. The light from the outside had noticeably vanished by now making her look around for the large clock on the wall. She wondered exactly how long she'd been training again.  
 _  
_"8 p.m. It's the third time this week"

There was little to do in a small town island like Patch and after going to the beach and shopping with her friends, she found she wanted to do something else. It was probably the nagging thought that she knew that Ruby was out there improving under a mentor while she was here wasting time. She'd spent the rest of the month diving into her training, pushing herself as hard as she could realizing what little she had. Even then she felt like she wasn't improving. Practicing her techniques at the gym would give them sharpness but a real opponent would be help her much more than these practices ever would.

"She has to be fighting Grimm too...wait. That's it!"

Yang quickly ran to her locker, picked up her stuff, and ran home as fast as she could, yelling a quick goodbye at the gym attendant. She knew what she had to do or at least what she wanted to do. There was more than one Hunter in the family to learn from and she wasn't about to fall behind her little sister during these months.

Taiyang heard his daughter's arrival with the slam of the door and brace himself for whatever idea had popped into her head recently. He'd learned by now that her entrances were a kind of tell indicating her mood and this time and he could clearly tell today's meant "I have a new idea."

Yang poked her head into her father's workshop and he could practically see the stars in her eyes as his eldest daughter looked directly at him with an obviously faked look of innocence. He wondered what crazy idea had gotten into her head now.

"Hello Yang, training late again I see?"

"Yep always working hard!" She said cheerfully. "Daddy, you know how Ruby is out training with uncle Qrow?"

"Yep. Right now they should be in a village to the East of Vale from what their last call said."

"Well, since she gets a training trip I was wondering if maybe I could join you in your next mission? Please?"

Her father didn't even have to consider it. "No. I'm sorry but you're not ready for real Hunter missions yet. Also I can't take you anywhere seeing as I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks."

"Oh come on! You said I needed more live combat experience and I'm never going to get any stuck here on this tiny island!" She complained.

"I"m sorry but I can't help you. You'll have to make use of what you have."

"Please! Don't you know anyone or have anything that can help?" She pleaded.

Taiyang thought about her request for a moment. She wasn't wrong. With her summer vacation she had more than enough time and was taking the initiative to improve herself. That kind of attitude would get her very far in her goal to be a Hunter. She may even get into Signal with her skills she'd develop. Her weaknesses though...

"I think I may just have something for you. Give me a day or two to see if it pans out."

"You serious?! Yes! Thanks a lot pops!" She hugged him from behind before running back to her room cheering about how she's going to go "kick butt" or something along those lines from what he heard.

He raised his eyebrow at the girl. "Pops?"

The Hunter shook his head before looking at his watch, deciding to call tomorrow instead. Chances are he'll still be in his office but Taiyang assumed the professor wouldn't be picking up the phone anytime soon. Not many people were very active in Beacon at this time, even less during summer.

"I just hope he didn't start his expedition early."

* * *

 _ **A Week Later**_

Yang took the first early-morning ferry out of Patch. Normally she was a late sleeper but the excitement of the day's events coupled with the morning schedule of the Hunter she was supposed to meet made her decision for her.

The ferry from Patch to Beacon left every day starting at 8 a.m. and left every other hour until sundown. They would have a more strict schedule for when they stopped, but the fear of undersea Grimm was enough to keep the ferry from operating in the dark. The ferry itself wasn't that large and could only hold about two hundred passengers and only a handful of cars. Patch wasn't what you would call a tourist destination. Other than its beach there wasn't much to see since the capital Vale itself had its own much more luxurious beach.

Yang didn't consider any of these things as she bounced on her heels in excitement as she watched the Valian skyline slowly appear before her from her position on the boat. She gripped the handrail as she leaned over the side in a vain attempt to speed up her arrival to the capital city. An attendant had warned her not to lean over the railing or dangle her feet over the edge lest she lure any aquatic Grimm. The blonde couldn't help herself until a tiny piranha-shaped Grimm jumped onto the deck, flopping futilely as the terrified passengers looked on.

She picked it up with Ember Celica before throwing it in the air and punching it back into the ocean. It may have been tiny and amusing but it was still a Grimm. It seems that her game was more amusing to her than it was to the other passengers judging by the dirty looks they were giving her. She was scolded again by the attendant about baiting the Grimm before huffing and sitting in one of the seats farther away from the railing. Only the Hunter the ferry hired as security against aerial Grimm seemed amused at her antics, giving her an encouraging wave from his position atop the boat.

The trip had taken an hour before finally landing at the port of Vale and of course Yang had been the first one to hop off hoping to quickly find the Hunter her father had assigned her to. Taiyang had given her a description of the man but for the life of her she couldn't remember any of it as she scanned the crowd of onlookers.

 _'I remember his name is Oobleck at least. Odd name but he has to be big and strong if he's a Hunter.'  
_  
"You're Yang I take it?" A voice called out to her.

"Oh yes and I'm here to help you with anything you need!" she said enthusiastically as she turned to see the source.

"Splendid! I'm Doctor Oobleck and you'll be joining me on a quest. We must be off! Discovery waits for no one you see." He stopped for a second. "...or maybe it does?"

Apparently he was just as much an oddball as her father had said Hunters were. He was tall and lanky with large round glasses. He didn't seem to be the kind of Hunter content to go out into the wilderness and fighting large Grimm like she'd hoped. The backpack he's carrying didn't seem very large either. She wondered exactly what her father had gotten her into.

"Did you bring everything I asked you to bring?" Straight to the point too.

"Of course I did!" Yang opened the small pack she had been carrying. "See water bottles, binoculars, flash light, notebook, mosquito repellent, and these!"

She extended her arms outwards in a show as Ember Celica unfurled itself around her arms, the large yellow plates serving as both weapon and guard. Oobleck didn't seem too impressed as he observed them up close.

"They're not bad. So what else do they do?"

"What do you mean what else?! I can punch them and even load fire dust shells to shoot them from a distance!"

He considered her response. "Well you are still young. You'll find out what you need as you go on. Come on we have to meet the rest of the group."

"What do you mean I have to learn!" Yang was offended by how quickly he brushed her off.

"My young friend, there are only some things you can only learn from experience. It's probably why your father left you with me. Now we must be off."

With that, Doctor Oobleck walked away, the blonde following silently while wondering exactly what it was she had to learn. She had to admit there was a lot she didn't know. Even more she didn't know she didn't know. That was one of the first ideas her father had drilled into her when she began her training. She thought about it for a few minutes before giving up. If she needed it then it would come to her eventually.

It didn't take them long to reach the entrance to a nearby park, presumably the meeting place for the rest of the group. Immediately the vast amount of freshly manicured grass, trees, and miscellaneous foliage caught Yang's attention. It was amazing to her that such a large area could not only be kept so neat but the sheer number of people who seemed to be enjoying the various different facilities within. She passed by everything from an outdoor stage, to an open picnic area, to a closed off section specifically for their pets to run around. She vaguely remembered hearing that the park was one of the major landmarks of Vale as she walked down the beautiful tree-lined path, avoiding a speeding bicyclist gong in her direction.

"You seem quite interested in Vale's Royal Park." Doctor Oobleck noted.

"Of course. I've never been here, much less seen anything of this magnitude. You have to wonder why they have something so large here."

"Well the history of its existence is quite an interesting one." Apparently she struck his teacher chord. "Most people who live here are conscious of Vale's natural barriers, realizing that there is only a limited space to work with. Of course they'd have to ask themselves "What's the point of such a large patch of unused land when it could house many more families to live safely away from the Grimm?". The answer is simple. It's because the majority of people who live within these natural barriers are simply too afraid to venture out into the wilderness and thus would never get to experience this kind of scenery in their lifetimes. The ruling council realized this early on in the life of this kingdom and reserved this spot specifically as green space not only for themselves but for everyone. Of course it did turn out to be a much better idea than even they realized it back then due to the effect of greenspace on public health and morale. Can you imagine living your entire life never knowing what a forest is?"

Yang thought back to her childhood, running around the forest around Qrow's house every weekend.

"That does sound really sad..."

"Despite humanity's cowering from the Grimm, there will always be a subconscious desire for nature."

"So would you say it's in their nature?" Yang said as she hid a grin from the professor.

"Exactly. I would say so."

Yang felt frustrated inwardly as her joke went over his head. Doctor Oobleck would have continued his lecture but they reached a small gazeebo where a tall, red-haired man clad in armor on his chest and shoulders stood accompanied by two other children who seemed to be about Yang's age. She noticed both the large man and the young girl shared not only hair color but were carrying large backpacks roughly half their size. The obviously weren't there to simply enjoy the sights. Doctor Oobleck confirmed this when he waved at the large man in greeting.

"Good morning Ardal my old friend. Are you and the children ready for a great day of exploration?"

The other man laughed exuberantly at the professor. "We always are Bartholomew my friend although I see this time you're not the only one to bring someone else along. You didn't have had a child and never tell me, huh?"

"Nonsense." Oobleck waved it off. "This is Yang Xiao Long. She's the daughter of a friend I've agreed to bring along. Besides, I'm too preoccupied with scholarly pursuits for things like courtships."

"You don't know what you're missing! Just say the word and I'll introduce you to this great woman I know. She owns a store that sells antiquities. The kind that you'd just love." The large man turned his attention to the young blonde at his friend's side. "Anyways, so you're Yang huh? Hello! Name's Ardal Valkyrie and these two runts beside me are my daughter Nora and her little boyfriend Ren."

"Daaad! It's not like that!"

Yang noticed the girl's face turned a shade of red to nearly match her hair. Ren however looked like he was used to the old man's teasing. Nora quickly shook off her embarrassment, taking the blonde's hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"As my dad said, I'm Nora and that one over there is Ren and we're not really going out. We're just childhood friends. Not that he's not attractive or anything it's just that-"

Yang couldn't help but laugh at the other girl's flustered speech about the other buy. It's not every day someone meets a person who wore their heart out on their sleeve like that. Seeing Nora wouldn't be stopping anytime soon Ren took the initiative and held out his hand.

"Ignore them. They're always like that. I'm Lie Ren."

"Haha don't worry about it. I'm Yang. Besides, she's not wrong. You're not half bad looking." She winked at the boy.

"I know! I keep telling him that!" Nora yelled.

Ardal laughed at the children's antics before once again turning to his friend.

"Looks like everyone's going to get along just fine. Now how about we head out now?"

"Indeed. We'll discuss matters along the way."

The discussion of their mission piqued Yang's curiosity as they stepped out of the gazebo onto the cement path out of the park. "Hey mister Oobleck, now that I think about it I still don't know what we're going to do!"

"First off it's Doctor Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for fun thank you very much. Second, we're going to go exploring some old ruins on the outskirts of Vale. They're relatively low difficulty and the Grimm population shouldn't be much of a problem."

"But if the ruins are nearby there's probably nothing there anymore!" Yang complained.

"Don't be beleaguered Ms. Xiao Long, there will still be a lot to see and you will be facing many dangers. It is after all still in Grimm infested territory."

"Besides," Ardal chipped in, "it's as much a training trip for these two as it is for you." He gestured towards the two next to him.

"What do you mean?" She looked back at Nora and Ren. "Aren't you two also training to be a Hunter and Huntress?"

Ren began to explain. "Well not exactly. Both of us are training to be what people normally call Scavengers. "

"We don't call ourselves that though. It's something normal people call us that somehow stuck. We're more fans of calling ourselves Restorers." Nora contributed. "We go into ruins of places left behind by the civilizations from before the Great War, catalog, and restore them if possible."

"Many people didn't like what the first Restorers did and likened them to vultures and grave robbers that existed before us and the name Scavengers stuck."

Oobleck turned his attention toward the children. "Make no mistake Yang. Many people may not like them, but they do us a great service in our search for humanity's past."

Yang looked at the large backpacks they carried as suddenly it all fell into place. She realized it's probably where they kept their tools and carried back important items.

"I get it, so we're going as bodyguards?" The blonde asked.

The sudden fit of laughter from the two redheads was not what she was expecting. Even Ren, Yang noticed, who seemed particularly stoic was chuckling lightly along with them, filling the blonde with a mix of confusion and embarrassment.

"Who needs bodyguards! We're strong enough to fight them all on our own! " Nora boasted. "We even go to the same schools as Hunters do!"

Yang turned her attention to Doctor Oobleck. "So if we're not going to protect them and there's nothing to find there why are we going?"

"Aaah. I never said there was nothing there to find. It's better to show you once we get there."

With that said, the rest of the walk consisted of the adults discussing preparations while Yang, Ren, and Nora followed behind making small talk.

* * *

 _ **Forest of Forever Fall**_

Whenever someone first visited the forest of Forever Fall, their first reaction is always the same: amazement. Yang, Nora, and Ren were no different. After a few seconds Yang and Nora gave each other a look before climbing the tallest tree they could find. Nora lagged slightly behind the blonde, having to push her friend into joining them atop the trees which he had done reluctantly. Once they reached the top even Ren was glad he had followed them up there as the three viewed the vast expanse of hills and valleys painted crimson by the thick foliage that gave the forest its namesake. Even the air itself seemed to be covered in a thin rose-colored fog permeating the entire forest, giving it a kind of dream-like atmosphere you'd almost be afraid to disturb.

Of course, Nora and Yang weren't the type for such considerations.

"This is so cool!" Nora gushed at the sight.

"and to think we're going to go in there and play in some ruins! I can't wait!" Yang agreed excitedly.

"You two do realize the ruins themselves are so far out we can't even see them and we're going to have to walk there right?" Ren was being realistic. "There's even lots of Grimm along the way."

"Oh like it matters! If a Grimm comes our way we'll break its legs!"

"Yeah!" the blonde agreed, pumping her fist into the air.

The young boy merely sighed. There would be no winning when those two girls were getting in sync with each other. He imagined what it would be like to have two Noras around and felt even more tired. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head before climbing down and opening his map to mark the direction they'd have to go. Since it was a learning experience, it seems the adults were taking more of a backseat on most of the matters on this trip. Nora soon followed him down and determined the direction they should go. Her father watched the two with a look of approval before agreeing with them and allowing them lead the way in.

It was a roughly 2 hour journey on foot through the forest of Forever Fall, encountering the occasional Grimm, before they reached a large, peculiarly-shaped valley. Yang noticed it seemed almost perfectly circular in shape with a steep drop in elevation regardless of the preceding ground level leading to noticeable drop in the treeline. It was almost as if someone dug a giant hole.

The expedition party stood at the edge of one of the smaller drops observing the sudden change in landscape. From her position Yang stood a full head above the sea of red within the valley as she tried to make out their destination. Next to them, Ardal had handed Ren a pair of binoculars pointing him toward some far off landmark. He observed it for a while before handing the binoculars to Nora who had been bouncing around on the heels behind him impatient to see what they had seen. Throughout the trip Yang had observed the girl's seemingly boundless energy and wondered if the large backpack on her back was as much to carry items as to keep her from bouncing away. She pulled out her own binoculars and pointed them in the same direction hoping to catch whatever they'd been observing as well.

"You may not notice it but beneath the trees but unlike the rest of the landscape the ground in the valley surrounding the ruin is perfectly level." Oobleck began. "The sudden drop along with its almost perfect circular shape and the sheer size, a diameter of about half a kilometer according to the surveys, is what makes this place not only unique but also easily visible from the air."

He pointed towards the center of the valley for Yang to observe. Through her binoculars she noticed the a piece of a small structure peeking out from beneath the trees, the juxtaposition of the white stone tower in an ocean of red seemed obvious after a glimpse making her wonder how she could have missed it.

"That is our destination. Its classification is SEM-05. I'd give you its formal name but it's sadly been lost to the ages and it's one of many of its kind so it doesn't have an extravagant name like the Temple of the Sun in Vacuo or the Palace of Flowing Wind in Southern Mistral. Either way it makes a perfect location for beginners of all stripes, stimulating both physically and educationally."

"It doesn't look all that big." Yang noted.

"Rest assured young Huntress it may look small from here but you wouldn't be saying that if you knew what it's classification means!" Ardal interjected. "Now can any of you kids tell me what SEM-05 means?"

"Oh come on how are we supposed to know that!" Yang complained.

However Ren began with his answer, "The first three letters in the classification indicate civilization, type of facility, and the relative size or importance."

"EN means it's a medium-sized military outpost." Nora continued.

"and the S?"

The name had all three of them stumped. Noticing that none of them were looking him in the eye the red-haired man continued on his own.

"Oh well. This is a learning experience so we'll leave that question open. We'll see if you can recognize where it's from once we get there. Nonetheless two out of three isn't bad."

Yang was beginning to notice the small difference between Hunters and Scavengers and what they did, as well as the importance of the skills they were learning. She left herself a mental note to learn those same skills in the future.

With the lecture portion of their trip over, the group jumped down into the valley toward the abandoned military outpost.

* * *

AN: I know this chapter isn't as long and it took me a while between this one and the previous one before but I had writer's block for a bit there. I've even considered rewriting chapter one since I was honestly never such a full fan of it.


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